Lever latch



T. BRADY LEVER LATCH June 18, 1929.

Filed Sept. 18, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet avwewtoz THOMAS BRADY Junels, 1929.

T. BRADY LEVER LATCH Filed Sep b. 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Junel8, 1929. v T. BRADY -1,717.492

LEVER LATCH Filed Sept. 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 F155 Y I F156 avwzmtoz THO/1A 5 BRADY Patented June 18, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICTEQF THOMAS BRADY, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LEVER LATCH.

Application filed September 18, 1923. Serial No. 663,343.

This invention relates to a novel lever latch of simple construction.

The invention has been particularly worked out in connection with closures for elevator hatch'waydoors. As is well known,

it is very essential that such doors be locked in closed position when the elevator car is not located at the ending or level at which the doors are located and, furthermore, it is essential that this locking mechanism be releasable only from the elevator side of the door and not from the floor level. I

This invention has for its salient object to provide a leverlatch which is adaptable for example to an operating lever tor elevator hatchway doors and which is so constructed and arranged that the door will be automatically locked by the door operating lever when the door has been closed thereby.

Another object of the invention is to provide lever locking mechanism so. constructed and arranged that movement of the lever in one direction will automatically release the lock. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a door closure having lever operating means with locking mechanism engageable,

with the lever and. releasable only from the elevator side of the door, although means may be provided for opening the door from the outside by the use of a key. This locking mechanism operates during the closing travel of the :door and before the door is fully closed.

Further objects of the. invention will appear from the followingspecification taken in conection with the drawings, which "form a part of this application, and in which Fig. l is an elevational view of ahatch: way door having leveroperatlng mechanism and locking means for locking-the door in closed position;

Fig. 2 is'an enlarged detail view of the locking mechanism. r

Fig. 3 is an elevational view similar to F ig. 1, but showing another form of the locking mechanism.

F 4 is an enlarged detail elevation of the locking mechanism shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view on an enlarged scale showing another form of locking mechanism, this mechanism being shown in locking position.

taken a t cooperatein locking the lever and door in closed positionandfurther means adapted to cooperate to release the look when the lever is swung in adirection to open the door. In the particular embodiment of the invention shown, the cooperating means on the lever and keeper comprise abutments on the keeper for engagement with notches in the lever and further abutments on the keeper disposed at the opposite side of the lever for swinging the keeper in a manner to release the locking abutment from engagement with the lever notch when the lever isswung in'a direction to open the door. Further details of the invention will appeaiyfromthe following description.

This application isa continuation in part of application Serial No. 335,542 filed November 8rd, 1919, in which application the lever locking mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 isfdisclosed which was issued March 11,1924 asPatent No. 1,486,278;

Referring, first, to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the door comprises in this instance two movable panels 10 and 11 and a stationary panel 12. In devices of the type under consideration,

the panel 10 is termed the fast moving panel I and the panel 11, the slow moving panel.

The hatchway door illustrated is operated to open and closedposition by means of a lever 13 and as'far as the'locking mechanism is concerned, this lever may be operated manually or by suitablepower operating. means, such as power cylinders 14 and 15 operating on opposite sides of the lever through a pivoted arm 16. The lever .13 is pivoted atl'? to a base 18 and fluidoperating means is introduced .into the power cylinders through suitable'conduits 19 and 20; This power operating means for the lever will of abutments or rollers 28 and 29 and on the" opposite side of its pivot 26, the keeper.

has mounted therein an abutment or roller 30.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the roller-3O is adapted to coact' with a notch 31 formed in the lever 13.

The construction shown inFigs; 1 and 2 operates as follows. When the leverf13 is.

swung manually or by power in an anticlockwise direction, the door will be closed and when the door reaches closed position,

the abutment or roller 30 will engage the I notch31of the lever. This engagement will effectively preventanyopening of the hatch way door from the floor level since an attempt to slide the door willbe forestalled 7 by the engagement of the roller '30 in the notch 31. When the operator desires to open the door, the lever is swung in a clockwise direction manually or by power and the initial movementof the lever in this direction will swing the keeper about its pivot 26 due to the engagement of the lever with the roller 28. This swinging movement of the keeper will release the roller 30fr0m the notch 31 ofthe lever thereby permitting the lever to be swung in a clockwise direction about its pivot to open the door. In Figs. 1 and 2, the two notches 31 and 32 are shown in the lever so that in case the roller 30 is not properly positioned for engagement with the notch 31 it will engage the notch 32. 7 Referring to theembodiment of the in- V vention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4,'a two panel door. is illustrated comprising panels.

40 and 41. 'These doors are operated bya lever 42 pivoted at 43 on a base 44. The

lever 42 may be'operated'manually or by power and the particular form of the-inventionshown in Fig. Sis adapted for operation by power suchas springs (not shown) actlng through a quadrant arm 45, which is geared to a sector 46 carried by the lever. A dash pot 47 is disposedon the opposite side of the lever for cushioning the door movement.

In this embodiment of the invention, a keeper 48 similar to the keeper 25 is provided and keeper 48 is pivoted at 49 to a plate 50 mounted onthe door section or panel 40.- The. keeperhas mounted therein at one side of its pivot, an abutment 51 engageable with one of'a pluralityof notches .52 formed in. the lever and at the opposite locking of'doors of the type described.

side of its pivot, the keeper has anelongatecl abutment 53 engageable by the lever in its door opening movement torrelease the abutment 51 from the lever not-ch. This construction operates in a manner exactly, simi: lar to that already described. r

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in'Figs. 5, 6 and 7 this form of the invention does notdiiler materially from the embodiments already'described and comprises a lever having an operating handle 61, a keeper 62 pivoted at 63 to a bracket 64 carried by a door panel65.

The keeper 62 hasa pair of rollers 66 and 67 disposed at one side of its pivot and a roller 68 disposed at the opposite side thereof. hen the lever is moved to the position shown in Fig.5 and the door is closed, the 1 roller or abutment 66 will be positioned in a notch'69 formed in one edge of the lever. In order to insure the positioning of the keeper v62 in such a mannereas to dispose the I roller 66and the notch 69, a lug 70 is clamped to the lever by a screw 71 and a setscrew 72 in the proper position to tilt the keeper 62 to theposition shown in Fig. 5 when the 7 door is in closed position. v

In. order to open the door the lever 60 is swung in, a clockwise direction and due to its engagement with the roller 68 of the keeper, the lever will tilt the keeper until the line connecting the center of the keeper to thepivot 63' and the center of the roller 68 is disposed at right angles'to the lever as shown in Fig. 6. The roller 66 will thereupon be released from the notch 69 of the lever, permitting free movement of the lever to open the door.

From the foregoing description it will be een that simple, practical and etficient mechanism has been provided for latching operating levers which when applied to the lever of a door actuating mechanism will insure the It will be evident that the door will be auto matically locked and automatically'released by the actuation of the door operating lever and that no additional operations are necessary to lock or unlock the door.

A'lthough certain specific embodiments of the invention have been particularlyshown and described, it willbe understood that the invention is capable of modification and that.

changes in the construction and in the arrangement of the var ous cooperating parts may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, as expressed in the followingclaims. i What I claim is: V V 1. A lever fulcrumed at one end, a member movable by the lever, a keeper pivoted on said member slidably receiving said lever, said keeper havlng means disposed on 0p- 'posite sides of its pivot for engaging. the

lever to latch said movable member and for engaging the lever to tilt the keeper relative to the lever and unlatch the lever from the keeper.

2. A lever fulcrumed at one end, a member movable by the lever, a keeper pivoted on said member slidably receiving said lever, said keeper being tiltable on its pivot to latching and unlatching position with respect to said lever and means 011 the keeper cngageable with opposite sides of said lever to tilt the keeper relative to the lever as the lever is swung about its fulcrum.

3. In combination, a sliding door, a keeper pivoted on the door, a door operating lever pivoted at a point remote from the pivot of the keeper, said lever having a slidable engagcnicnt with the keeper and being constructed with a notch in one of its edges, said keeper having a means disposed on one side of its pivot and on the notched side of the lever for engaging the notch in the lever to cause the lever to hold the door against sliding, said keeper having another means on the -otiier side of its pivot and on the opposite side of the lever for engaging the lever and :t'or causing the movement of the lever to tilt the keeper relative to the lever out of engagement with the notched side of the keeper. 4. In combination, a sliding door, a keeper pivoted on the door, a door operating lever pivoted. at a point remote from the pivot of the keeper, said lever having a slidable engagement with the keeper and being constructed with a series of spaced notches in one of its edges, said keeper having a means disposed on one side of its pivot and on the notched side of the lever for engaging the notches in the lever to cause the lever to hold the door against sliding, said keeper having another means on the other side of its pivot and on the opposite side of the lever for engaging the lever and for causing the movement of the lover to tilt the keeper relative to the lever out of engagement with the notched side 01'' the keeper.

, 5. In combination, a sliding door, a keeper pivoted on the door, a door operating lever pivoted at a point remote from the pivot of the keeper, said lever having a slidable engagemcnt withthe keeper and being constructed with a notchin; one of its edges, said keeper having a means disposed on one side of its pivot and on the notched side of the lever for engaging the lever to cause the movement of the lever in one direction to slide the door to closed position and to engage the notch in the lever when the door is closed to cause the lever to hold the door against sliding in the opposite direction and said keeper having another means on the other side of its pivot and on the opposite side of the lever for engaging the lever and for causing the movement of the leverin the other direction to tilt the keeper relative to the lever out of engagement with the notched side of the lever and to slide the door to open position.

b. In combination, a sliding door, a keeper pivoted on the door, a door operating lever pivoted at a point remote from the pivot of the keeper, said lever having a slidable engagement with the keeper and being constructed with a series of spaced notches in one of its edges, said keeper having a means disposed on one side of its pivot and on the notched side of the lever for engaging the lever to cause the movement of the lever in one direction to slide the door to closed position and to engage one of the notches in the lever when the door is closed to cause the lever to hold the door against sliding in theopposite direction and said keeperhaving another means on the other side of itspivot and on the opposite side of the lever for engaging the lever and for causing the movement of the lever in theotherdirection to tilt the keeper relative to the lever out of engagement with the notched side of the lever and to slide the door to open position.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17 day of Sept, 1923.

THOMAS BRADY. 

